Entries Tagged as 'specials'

A quick follow-up EpiCast to share the latest news about webfiction and the publishing industry, but especially to talk about... the Seventh Annual Web Serial Writing Month, which is almost upon us!

Hosts Kira (yours truly) and Michael begin with a varied selection of news items, including some serial premieres and finales, a new way a massive serial community is trying to help writers fund their work, and an upcoming convention for those in the indie publishing world.

From there we shift into WeSeWriMo Prepration mode, reminding everyone that Web Serial Writing Month is nearly here, with a deadline of August 1 for signing up (meaning you can register up to and including August 1, just to be clear). After explaining exactly what WeSeWriMo is, we then offer some incredibly useful tips, offered by past participants of the month-long writing challenge, on how to best ensure that you succeed without driving yourself crazy in the process.

An EpiCast first follows: a brief commentary plus an inspiring musical break (at least I think so) from me regarding battling the fears that can cripple writers no matter what their experience level. Finally we give our thanks one last time to the donors for last year's fundraising drive, thank our participants and say our farewells as we gear up for the EpiGuide's yearly marathon.

Once you've listened, hop on over to our Podbean site, the EpiGuide forum, or our new Webcast Beacon site (links below) to share your own thoughts on these topics and this episode.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out by submitting your recaps and news stories!

Episode Notes:

Recording date: This episode was recorded on July 14, 2013 (except for the commentary at the end, recorded on July 21, 2013).

Technical notes: We used Skype for the conversation and interviews, Replay Recorder for recording, Audacity and The Levelator for editing/post-recording fine-tuning, and Podbean for hosting. If you have any suggestions, questions, comments or brickbats you want to throw at us regarding this episode, please let us know!

This supersized EpiCast (the title has a double meaning!) has plenty of everything: recaps of the latest webserial installments, news about several returning webserials, a response to some listener feedback, and the massive main course in this feast: a discussion about long-running webserials and just how one can create--and maintain--a serial that has staying power.

Hosts Kira (yours truly) and Michael start things off with summaries and bickering--all in good fun, of course. Learn what happened on a variety of webfiction serials over the past month, and find out why pronouns can make the difference between a standard sleazy politician's ploy and a storyline straight out of a V.C. Andrews novel.

Next we offer a quick look at the news, which includes some returning serials (a few that have only been gone a couple of months, while another is making a resurrection from a years-long absence) and an announcement of a chat devoted to serialized tales.

And as promised, we embark on an extensive, in-depth discussion about some of the longest-running webserials, with plenty of advice from their authors, a varied group that represents a combined total of more than fifty years of serialized fiction experience! Interested in learning how to writers ensure their plots and characters have such phenomenal staying power? Get comfortable because we've got a ton of tips and tricks, as well as commentary from our hosts (who alone have thirty years' experience behind 'em).

Of course, we end with our sincere thanks to our sponsors and a teaser of our next episode, which will be posted in less than a week!

Once you've listened, hop on over to our Podbean site, the EpiGuide forum, or our new Webcast Beacon site (links below) to share your own thoughts on these topics and this episode. Many thanks to everyone who helped out by submitting your recaps and news stories!

Episode Notes:

Recording date: This episode was recorded in two sessions on June 10 and July 14, 2013.

Rundown:

00:00 - 01:28: Opening pleasantries and teasers for the episode ahead

01:29 - 20:23: Webserial recaps and commentaries

20:24 - 25:07: Editorial / Response to listener feedback

25:08 - 30:37: Webfiction and webserial news

30:38 - 01:18:30: Discussion: Creating webserials that pass the test of time

Hi everyone! We have a fresh batch of webseries/webfiction news, recaps, and discussion, not to mention revolting self-promotion on the part of one of our hosts, all ready for you to enjoy in EpiCast #009. Your co-hosts Kira (yours truly) and Michael, the latter back after a break, offer up a few quick news items ranging from simple schedule changes to a site redesign (and our opinions thereof), a call for serial submissions from a renowned publisher, and a social media webseries in the making.

There are also the aforementioned storyline recaps, all but one submitted courtesy of some generous writers -- and the lone instance of one of our hosts going rogue was Michael, who very generously decided to recap About Schuyler Falls, another series that reached its fifteenth birthday this year like his own Footprints, which we spotlighted last month. He then proceeds to embarrass his co-host by going on about it for a bit.

And finally, once that's done, we get to a debate/discussion, which focuses on the nature of how writers treat their webserials: should these be fixed works that stand or fall proudly on their own, or fluid entities that can be revised after publication?

Listen on and decide for yourself!

Episode Notes:

As ever, sound quality remains a cruel beast who won't be tamed. One of us sounds like she's in a tin can, the other is apparently in an echo canyon. We apologize, as always, for the weirdness.

Recording date: This episode was recorded on November 24, 2012.

Rundown:

00:00 - 01:51: Opening pleasantries, thanks to last month's sub host Ira, comments from our co-host about the previous episode in his absence, and teasers for the episode ahead

01:52 - 13:31: Around the World in Webseries, plus call for news submissions

Thanks & Invitation: Join in! We'd love to hear from you about any of the sites or topics we covered in this episode. Keep an eye out over at the EpiGuide for a Call for Submissions where we'll be asking for webserial recaps and news, listener questions, and topic ideas.

Technical notes: We used Skype for the conversation and interviews, Replay Recorder for recording, Audacity for editing, and Podbean for hosting.If you have any suggestions, questions, comments or brickbats you want to throw at us regarding this episode, please let us know!

The latest EpiCast is here and it's a special one indeed: in addition to our regular webserial recaps and webseries/webfiction news, we have an in-depth tribute to Footprints, a webserial that's reached its remarkable 15th anniversary this month! Our co-hosts are Kira Lerner and Ira Madison III (subbing for Michael, who in addition to being busy happens to be the author of the serial we're honoring so we figured we'd let him sit back and enjoy the applause), two longstanding members of the EpiGuide community who share their thoughts on the serial's place in webserial history, its strengths and weaknesses, their personal likes and dislikes and generally go crazy over this amazing milestone as well they should, because, c'mon, fifteen years, people!

But before the party begins, we have the aforementioned webserial storyline recaps (current as of October 17, when this episode was recorded) and news of recent or upcoming text and video serial premieres, as well as a highly useful resource for anyone who loves the online serial format.

Dig in and enjoy the celebration!

Episode Notes:

Again, we apologize for some sound quality issues. One of our hosts, who shall remain nameless but let's just say she couldn't get her microphone to work correctly no matter how much it was thrown across the room in disgust.

Thanks & Invitation: Join in! We'd love to hear from you about any of the sites or topics we covered in this episode. Keep an eye out over at the EpiGuide for a Call for Submissions where we'll be asking for webserial recaps and news, listener questions, and topic ideas.

Technical notes: We used Skype for the conversation and interviews, Replay Recorder for recording, Audacity for editing, and Podbean for hosting.If you have any suggestions, questions, comments or brickbats you want to throw at us regarding this episode, please let us know!